DIY Bleach T-shirt Tutorial – The Perfect Valentines Gift for Him or Her!
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Everyone loves T-shirts. They are comfy, they are easy, and it really doesn’t matter if you spill on them. My friend Leslie introduced me to designing your own t-shirt with a printed design and bleach. It was SO Easy and I loved how they turned out!
1. First you need some sort of design… it could be anything! I decided to pick a “curves ahead” road sign because my husband loves riding fast on his motorcycle.
2. You will need some freezer paper. Print out any design from your computer and trace it onto the paper side of the freezer paper. Then cut out your design. You could also use a Cricut to cut out your design. Make sure the shiny side of the paper is facing down.
3. Iron your design onto your shirt, make sure the shiny side is facing down and the paper side is facing up. Lightly press the iron onto your design so it will stay.
4. Cut some cardboard(we used cereal boxes) and put it inside of your shirt so it doesn’t leak onto the back of the shirt.
4. BLEACH TIME! Fill your water bottle with 70% bleach 30% water. And spray away. Some shirts I sprayed really close to the shirt and others I stood back a bit. Spray as little or as much as you would like. I sprayed a little at first then went back and sprayed more. Certain colors (like black) will show up instantly. The pink and red shirts took close to 20 minutes. The longer they sit the more bleached out it will be.
5. When it is done bleaching, take your cardboard out, take your design off, and rinse thoroughly in the bath tub.
6. Wash your shirt in the washing machine to make sure all the bleach is out and so it won’t bleach anything else.
*Please note… the little white dots on the black shirt are from the snow not the bleach. 
Cool idea!
very fun idea!!
I’ve made these a few times, last summer we made about a dozen of them for our Relay For Life team. Please beware though, the bleach tends to break down the fabrics and holes develope quickly!
Thank you for that tip! Do you think it was the amount of bleach used? If we use less do you think it would be better?
This is something for my “to do” list! Thank you for shareing!
Love them ~ the logos are fab!!! Thanks for sharing
xo
Heather
http://www.twindragonflydesigns.com
Oh my gosh you ladies are awesome! What a fun blog! I’m your newest follower and can’t wait to read more!!
Sweet!
amazing!!! i love it and can’t wait to try it!
So.. now.. Can I model this on the “what I wore” link party?! (0; Really cute idea, and can’t wait to try it! ~tina
I’m sorry, but what is “freezer paper”?
I didn’t know either until my husband started hunting!
It has a plastic/waxy material on one side (so food won’t stick to it in the freezer) and a paper material on the other. You can find it in any grocery store or walmart. It is usually by the saran wrap. Hope this helps!
Can you use a vinyl decal or does it have to be the freezer paper?
What about the color? How do you get pink bleach or white or orange?
The bleach will turn your colored shirts a different color. You don’t always know what color it might turn out. Just have fun, but don’t get your heart set on a certain color.
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Tried it with “frog tape” cause I had that on hand. My design was a bit thinner, but no thinner than the pink tank shown… didn’t work. I guess I’ll be trying again with freezer paper
Almost 10 years ago I was messing around with beach designs on shirts. I didn’t think about ironing on freezer paper, instead my sister and I used big foam stamps. I don’t remember if we brushed the bleach on them or just dipped but I remember it working. We’d end up having a beached out design where we placed the stamp. Not exactly a safe technique for kids, but as adults you could make them this way as gifts.
Almost 10 years ago I was messing around with beach designs on shirts. I didn’t think about ironing on freezer paper, instead my sister and I used big foam stamps. I don’t remember if we brushed the bleach on them or just dipped but I remember it working. We’d end up having a beached out design where we placed the stamp. Not exactly a safe technique for kids, but as adults you could make them this way as gifts.
Almost 10 years ago I was messing around with beach designs on shirts. I didn’t think about ironing on freezer paper, instead my sister and I used big foam stamps. I don’t remember if we brushed the bleach on them or just dipped but I remember it working. We’d end up having a beached out design where we placed the stamp. Not exactly a safe technique for kids, but as adults you could make them this way as gifts.
Almost 10 years ago I was messing around with beach designs on shirts. I didn’t think about ironing on freezer paper, instead my sister and I used big foam stamps. I don’t remember if we brushed the bleach on them or just dipped but I remember it working. We’d end up having a beached out design where we placed the stamp. Not exactly a safe technique for kids, but as adults you could make them this way as gifts.
This was so fun!! We did it down at my Mom’s house with all of the grand-kids. They all designed their own designs with Mom’s help and then we used Vinyl instead of freezer paper, because Mom has a vinyl cutter so we just used the scraps for the designs. It worked Great!! I had tried it with freezer paper earlier and they did not turned out so well(too much bleach, not enough, etc.). With the vinyl, everything looked really sharp and we didn’t have any problems. And the kids liked revealing their design by pulling off their own stickers after the bleach was done. It was a lot of fun!!
I am not having any luck with the freezer paper. No matter how much I iron it and how much/little I spray, it still leaks through the paper and my design doesn’t come out. Has anyone had this same problem? HELP!!!
Yes! Tricia I’m having the exact same problem. It soaks right through the freezer paper no matter how lightly I spray….
Same here…I bought freezer paper especially for this project. I done 2 t shirts now and neither turned out very good…I might try vinyl or duct tape!
Ditto!
This would also work with contact paper!!!
Just trace your design onto it, and cut it out. Stick it on just like a sticker!
I make these and they come out every time. However, I do not use freezer paper. I actually print my design and then laminate it. Because of the bleach it will quickly eat through paper. So the designs don’t always come out the best. By using a laminated design, the bleach wil not bleach through
My first try I used way to much bleach and it actually bled under the design. I now do two or three quick mists and walk away. About 1/2 hour later I return. if the design is not faded enough I’ll spray again. This way you can limit the amount of bleach on the shirt.
Perfect!! Thanks for the helpful suggestion!
Would the iron on design from the freezer paper work for a tie-dye shirt as well?
I tried this with clear packing tape to makes stripes, the bleach water bled under the tape. Sadness.
My son does this every year at the local “Maker Faire”. They use store bought letter stencils, and cut stencils from file folders instead of the freezer paper. Just be careful not to over-saturate the shirts with the bleach solution, so it doesn’t bleed under the stencil.
This is too cute. I have come to realize that I can immediately stop the bleaching process by soaking the fabric in vinegar water and then washing the fabric. Works like a charm; especially if the bleach falls on something it wasn’t supposed to.
Kudos,
-Rochelle
I just had great success using freezer paper, and a pretty detailed design. No bleeding what so ever. I did pull it off fairly quickly and rinsed to stop the bleaching. My ratio was 2 parts bleach, one part water. I actually use freezer paper to paint stuff on shirts all the time. It’s ironed down, so it stays put until I remove it.
Ive heard that this leaves holes in shirt can someone tell me if it actually does!!
We didn’t have a problem with holes in our shirts.